Yehuda Benayahu

Dr. Yehuda Benayahu

School of Zoology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

24Years (2003-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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6 June 2019 in BMC Ecology and Evolution
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
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AQAndrea Quattrini
Andrea Quattrini
TWTiana Wu
Tiana Wu
KSKeryea Soong
Keryea Soong
MJMing-Shiou Jeng
Ming-Shiou Jeng
Yehuda BenayahuYehuda Benayahu
Yehuda Benayahu
CMCatherine McFadden
Catherine McFadden
Our ability to investigate processes shaping the evolutionary diversification of corals (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) is limited by a lack of understanding of species boundaries. Discerning species of corals has been challenging due to a multitude of factors, including homoplasious and plastic morphological characters and the use of molecular markers that are either not informative or have not completely sorted. Hybridization can also blur species boundaries by leading to incongruence between morphology and genetics. We used traditional DNA barcoding and restriction-site associated DNA sequencing combined with coalescence-based and allele-frequency methods to elucidate species boundaries and simultaneously examine the potential role of hybridization in a speciose genus of octocoral, Sinularia. Species delimitations using two widely used DNA barcode markers, mtMutS and 28S rDNA, were incongruent with one another and with the morphospecies identifications. When mtMutS and 28S were concatenated, a 0.3% genetic distance threshold delimited the majority of morphospecies. In contrast, 12 of the 15 examined morphospecies formed well-supported monophyletic clades in both concatenated RAxML phylogenies and SNAPP species trees of > 6000 RADSeq loci. DAPC and Structure analyses also supported morphospecies assignments, but indicated the potential for two additional cryptic species. Three morphologically distinct species pairs could not, however, be distinguished genetically. ABBA-BABA tests demonstrated significant admixture between some of those species, suggesting that hybridization may confound species delimitation in Sinularia. A genomic approach can help to guide species delimitation while simultaneously elucidating the processes generating coral diversity. Results support the hypothesis that hybridization is an important mechanism in the evolution of Anthozoa, including octocorals, and future research should examine the contribution of this mechanism in generating diversity across the coral tree of life.

28 September 2011 in Marine Biodiversity
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Journal Article
Closed access
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DADafna Aharonovich
Dafna Aharonovich
Yehuda BenayahuYehuda Benayahu
Yehuda Benayahu

11 January 2007 in Marine Biology
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Journal Article
Closed access
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OBO. Barneah
O. Barneah
IBI. Brickner
I. Brickner
MHM. Hooge
M. Hooge
VWV. M. Weis
V. M. Weis
TLT. C. LaJeunesse
T. C. LaJeunesse
Yehuda BenayahuYehuda Benayahu
Yehuda Benayahu

11 January 2014 in Coral Reefs
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Journal Article
Closed access
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RARuiz Allais
Ruiz Allais
JPJ. P.
J. P.
MAM. E. Amaro
M. E. Amaro
CMC. S. McFadden
C. S. McFadden
AHA. Halász
A. Halász
Yehuda BenayahuYehuda Benayahu
Yehuda Benayahu


1 August 2019 in Environmental Pollution
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Journal Article
Closed access
EGEldad Gutner-Hoch
Eldad Gutner-Hoch
Roberto MartinsRoberto Martins
Roberto Martins
FMFrederico Maia
Frederico Maia
TOTânia Oliveira
Tânia Oliveira
MSMuki Shpigel
Muki Shpigel
Yehuda BenayahuYehuda Benayahu
Yehuda Benayahu